Comments

1

Are you seriously suggesting that Washington’s 8 electoral votes are in jeopardy if the Seattle City Council becomes more conservative? That this state will turn red? As much as I’d like to believe that, it ain’t gonna happen. The city could elect a council of avowed self proclaimed fascists (and still be far left of center) and this state would still send 8 blue votes to the electoral college. If Dems once again spend all their effort drumming up votes in friendly, secure states, while disdainfully ignoring the Pennsylvanias and Wisconsins, they should expect to see a replay of 2016. They would do better to spend their energy trying to figure out how to make the deplorables in the flyover states like them, or at least not feel despised by them.

2

As the imminent demise of our current City Council becomes so obvious even The Stranger’s tight little Capitol Hill bubble can’t obscure it, the bawling screams start towards a crescendo. Let’s tick the boxes, shall we?

Bitter, scolding, virtue-signaling, “No True Scotsman” lecture? Check.
Egad! Trump voters! In Seattle! Check.
Phantom opposition $15/hour! Check.
Only a hate group would say our Council’s homeless policy has failed! Check.
Voting to replace our precious Council proves you’re a misogynistic racist! Check.
Citizens who dare to sign Referendum peitions are bullying our precious Council! Check.
Durkan is just like Trump! Check.

If the trends shown in the primary hold, there simply won’t be enough popcorn in November.

3

We all know the only solution is to build more urban housing, and restore the default zoning in Seattle to it's 6 story MFH glory that reigned in 1933, minus the racist zones.

Everything else is just excuses for why it was too hard to fix Climate Change, that nobody will thank you for in a decade or two as the climate refugees stream in.

4

Your concern for the safety of seattle residents and visitors has been noted. Everybody, if you enjoy people camping on the sidewalk, piles of shit, needles, people fucking in public, assaults, rapes, and so on, please vote for Shaun. He's the perfect representative of "liberal" seattle.

6

Maybe Seattle is struggling to live up to its progressive ideals because you know, the city isn't as progressive as you like nor does it want to be?

7

Quite the word salad. Has Shaun been taking writing lessons from Mudede?

8

$30 car tabs!

9

Throw Jeff Bezos, Howard Schultz, and anyone MAGA to the alligators!

10

Methinks that as the state of Florida sinks deeper into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, the reptiles in the Everglades will be getting really fat in the Deep South.

11

Clear-eyed analysis from the candidate worth the vote of anyone who cares about the collective future of this city, and likewise by those far sighted enough to track the destiny of their self-interest to the point where it merges with the common good.

12

No fear mongering going on here, except this is exactly what is going on here. His campaign must be a dumpster fire.

In his thinly veiled attempt to cast his opponent as a Seattle version of Trump, Scott proves that he and his band of democracy voucher bought beer guzzling stooges have a great deal more in common with Trump than anyone else in this race. Complete with the fear mongering, baseless hyperbole, and ideological horse shit.

For someone who made a public statement regaling us all with tales of how he voted for Jill Stein, Scott really has got a lot of nerve bringing up Trump at all.

This left to the center progressive is voting Pedersen. Anything to avoid more of this walking dumpster fire who helped usher Trump into power in the first place. He might’ve inflicted Donald on us but I’ll be damned if comes along for the ride as a reward for it too.

13

@9 go take your meds before you get reported to the secret service, you absolute lunatic

14

What Scott is trying to do here is associate every person who disagrees with his bad policies as being in cahoots with the KKK. That line of attack is t going to work anymore Mr. Scott. You have to come to the table with something other than stoking those who disagree with you with the fear of being framed a racist, misogynist, and homophobe...

We’re on to you, political hack.

Looking forward to you losing.

15

“Precinct data suggests an increasingly vocal bloc of conservative Seattle voters who weaponize the issue of homelessness to beat back progressive gains like $15/hour minimum wage...”

Ok, working backwards, what’s the evidence for “conservative Seattle voters” attempting to “beat back progressive gains like the $15/hour minimum wage”? How does “precinct data” suggest this?

You know what this “suggests” to this voter? A wanna-be elected official who monitors election data per neighborhood or even precinct for behavior acceptable to him. If elected, what will happen to city services in places he deems unacceptably non-compliant with his views?

I think we should use our votes so that we never need to learn.

16

@13 Go take a flying leap. You're the one with a demonic themed avatar, not me.

17

“We must start by taxing the same corporate cronies who have supported both Mayor Durkan and Donald Trump in their respective rises to power.”

Uhh, not sure what this means. Amazon and Jeff Bezos supported Hillary Clinton during the election.

18

Perhaps your diatribe would be more persuasive if you referred to those of us who support your opponent as “deplorables”...

19

Good article. But unfortunately, although the Chamber funded the McKinsey report, it did not support its conclusions, and the Chamber has not supported any funding increase for homelessness issues.

20

God what a terrible article. Shaun Scott is an unqualified hack with no relevant experience and he can’t even piece together a coherent argument in this piece. He writes at an 8th grade reading level and has no cogent statement.

21

"Most controversially, the current iteration of the Seattle City Council has authored zoning reform that has upset entrenched homeowners who seek to preserve Seattle’s history of segregation in amber,"

Huh, so this is what Shaun Scott thinks of his potential constituents.

22

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan derisively refers to Trump as “a housing developer turned president.”

What does she have against developers? Maybe that's something to explore. I know they are easily demonized but almost every complaint leveled against them can be laid at the feet of land speculators and lousy zoning decisions supported by the same people who complain about developers.

23

"Mere miles from the petty glory of the I-5 [Trump] protestors, nearby Laurelhurst is one of a handful of Seattle neighborhoods that saw a level of Trump support during the 2016 presidential election that was above the norm for District 4." -- Shaun Scott

Fact check: Incredibly dishonest framing. D4 and Laurelhurst voted overwhelmingly AGAINST Trump (i.e., 78-89%) in the 2016 election. The rejection rate was actually one of the highest in the nation. The implied smear/claim of “Laurelhurst actually supports Trump” has zero basis in fact. NO precinct in Laurelhurst or other D4 neighborhoods had majority support for Trump, not even close.

Instead he’s relying upon “greater than the average for D4 overall.” I can only guess that his team probably desperately wanted it to be true that those evil Laurelhurst people voted for Trump, but literally close to 90% did not. So they sat there in Excel and said “hmmm, what if we made the overall rejection of Trump in D4 the baseline? Can we ‘other’ them now? Would that make a few percentage points different, say 88% rejection vs. 84% rejection really stand out? How can we make ‘just’ 84% rejection sound really bad in comparison?”

Color me shocked: when looking for those who want more accountability over how taxpayer-funded programs and spending are managed, you will generally find them in more affluent neighborhoods, who often have the largest tax bills. People who support, say, Stalin more than D4’s median will be found in other precincts. Shocker. But NO precinct will show majority support for either, and it's dishonest framing to suggest that they do.

Is this a uniter? Is this an honest piece? If we had him in office, would he be transparent about data and measures, and what it was telling us?

24

So if we oppose the current council and like candidates, we are literally #MAGA, climate change deniers, supporters of the KKK? And how do you reconcile the want more development but hate developers trope?

25

Shaun Scott neglected to quote the second half of the slogan following “Drive Out Trump/Pence,” displayed by protestors over the 45th street I-5 overpass in the University District: "by Sustained Mass Protest." There's no local or electoral solution to the national nightmare forced on humanity and the planet by Trump/Pence. All who refuse to accept a fascist America, not just liberals, need to stop relying on and waiting on elections to do what only the masses of people can do. We must seize on the impeachment crisis now erupting and turn dread for the future into a force for hope - by joining together behind the single unifying demand: The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go– NOW! The national organization Refuse Fascism is launching sustained nonviolent mass protests demanding Trump/Pence #OutNOW beginning with every weekend for 5 weeks. They start this Saturday in NYC and Los Angeles, then spread to other cities on October 26, including Seattle. The Seattle protest is in the U District at 6pm on 10/26, University Way NE & NE Campus Parkway. And I have no interest in responding to those who justify concentration camps on the border
 environmental devastation accelerated
 the danger of war, even nuclear, threatened
 white supremacy rules
 fascist mobs and racist mass murderers
 truth and science erased
 the right to abortion near gone
 the rule of law and democratic and civil rights are stripped away... violent threats against the press and political opponents. This is fascism unfolding and it's an existential danger. Local politicians have a responsibility, like every human being, to put aside their own aspirations and act in the interests of humanity as a whole.

26

Laurelhurst is a right wing enclave? Excellent demonstration of how to "other" anyone who disagrees with you even a tiny bit, Scott. This is exactly how Mike O'Brien operates in D6, not good.

28

Tired of the smear campaigns coming from the Scott camp as of late. First his claim that Pedersen doesn't believe in climate change (his canvassers who came to my home confirmed Scott was aware his claim is false), now this. It's no longer about the issues, it's now all about fear mongering.

29

The hatred from the reactionary right-wing trolls is palpable here. I'll be voting for Shaun.

30

@29: Obviously, you're among those blinded by MAGA. Don't believe me? See @23 stevemur's and @25 Mahe's comments.


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